I’m writing this letter as an almost lifelong citizen of Redmond, 40-year real estate broker, parent of Redmond graduates, and now admitting to being a senior citizen.

In all these roles, the education of students in our community has been of paramount importance to me. We have an army of dedicated educators, support staff, parents, and community members getting that done!

The bond before us is to ensure that the buildings where this education takes place are safe and well-maintained for the long term.

Just as each of our homes needs new paint and upgrades to safeguard the investment we have in them, so do our school buildings. I know some of them are old because I attended them in elementary school!

Think of how many roofs, paint jobs, new furnaces, etc. your homes would have undergone in that amount of time. Have you added security systems? Upgraded for added safety and efficiency? It is a process that needs attention continually.

Taking care of the community investments in our school buildings is a high priority. This bond gives us a unique opportunity to leverage state funds we would normally not receive and it doesn’t require an increase in our property taxes. To me, that’s a double prize.

Please join me in voting YES for RSD Kids.

— Diana Barker, Redmond

Today, Oregon politicians draw the boundaries for their own state and congressional districts. In our view, politicians in power shouldn’t be allowed to draw voting maps that benefit themselves or their party — a serious conflict of interest. Unfortunately, the Oregon Redistricting Initiative didn’t make the ballot — but there is bright hope for another electoral reform in Oregon: opening up our primary system.

Oregon’s primary system is closed to all but Democratic and Republican party candidates and voters. Nonaffiliated and third-party voters and candidates are barred from participating in primary partisan races. That’s over 1 million — almost 40% — of registered voters that are shut out. Our primary system is much like it was when it was adopted in 1904 — we’re one of only nine remaining states with a closed primary system.

The solution? A fully open primary system. All voters should be entitled to vote in political office primaries, regardless of their party preference or nonpreference. All candidates, regardless of party preference or nonpreference, should be allowed to compete and broaden voter choice. You shouldn’t have to join one of the two major parties to be allowed to participate in primary races — let all voters vote!

Oregon Open Primaries is a nonpartisan team of volunteers working to advance a ballot measure that will replace our antiquated, preferential primary system with one that levels the playing field for candidates and gives all voters the chance to vote.

See us at www.oregonopenprimaries.org

— Michael DeWolf, Redmond

The Sept. 24 edition of the “My Nickel’s Worth” letter submitted by Sue Ooten contained a serious distortion of fact.

Ooten stated when discussing the issue of nominating Supreme Court justices, “All the way back to President Lincoln, a replacement of a justice during an election year has not been allowed.” This is a misreading of history.

In fact, according to an article, taken from the National Review, and posted on the web, “History is on the side of the Republicans filling a Supreme Court Vacancy in 2020.” The reporter, Dan McLaughlin, demonstrates that there is significant history to support either party making a recommendation to fill a Supreme Court vacancy when that party holds the presidency and the senate, the two branches of our government vested with the powers of “advise and consent.”

In fact, this situation has occurred 29 times and each time the president made an appointment.

McLaughlin writes that doing otherwise “would be a historically unprecedented act of unilateral disarmament. The rationale is simple. Throughout American history, when a party controls both the Senate and the Presidency, presidents get to fill Supreme Court vacancies at any time.

“The closeness of the election is irrelevant as many appointees have been vetted in less than 60 days. The important point is how well the Senate manages its current control of 53 to 47 votes.

“Should Arizona’s Senator Martha McSally lose to Mark Kelly (D), he could immediately take office since Senator McSally was appointed and not elected.”

— David G. Blahnik, Bend

Do you have a point you’d like to make or an issue you feel strongly about? Submit a letter to the editor.